Related Media

WINCHESTER BAY — A 30-year-old North Bend man being held without bail in California after a crime spree Monday is the suspect in the death of a woman whose body was found the day before at a coastal viewpoint, the Oregon State Police confirmed Wednesday.

OSP detectives are continuing to question Jeffrey Griffin Boyce, who is in the Marin County Jail, OSP Lt. Doug Ladd said today.

Authorities have yet to release the name of the victim, though several news agencies in California and Oregon, citing friends and family, identified her as 57-year-old Kirsten Englund from Castro Valley.

A couple found the victim’s body Sunday morning in blackberry bushes at Wayfinding Point, a stopping point off Highway 101 three miles south of Reedsport. Investigators said the woman was apparently killed that morning.

Boyce was arraigned Wednesday in Marin County Superior Court on suspicion of false imprisonment, attempted carjacking, carrying a loaded firearm with intent to commit a felony, exhibiting a firearm with intent for great bodily injury, first-degree attempted burglary, resisting a police officer and attempted criminal threats with intent to terrorize.

Ladd said he is unsure when, or if, Boyce will be extradited to Oregon. The suspect is currently facing serious charges in California, he said.

“Since we have a prime suspect and we know where he is, we’re not too concerned about it. We can get him when we need him,” Ladd said.

Englund was a retired accountant who was on a trip to visit family members in the Northwest, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. She had seen a son at Humboldt State University and was planning to visit her second son at the University of Oregon. She then planned to see her sister in Washington, according to the Chronicle.

The Douglas County Major Crimes Team is investigating the homicide. Authorities have not commented on a possible motive or how the victim was killed.

A heavily armed Boyce was arrested in Marin County around 6:40 p.m. Monday. He is accused of two carjackings, twice taking vehicles and holding the victims at gunpoint. The first driver was able to escape and a passer-by alerted police to the second carjacking victim. Boyce tried to run away but was caught by police.

Boyce is believed to be a Boston Marathon bombing sympathizer, and he told his mother he intended to seek asylum at the Russian Consulate.